THALIA THEATRE Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th St. (212- 864-5400)- The films of Alec Guinness. Dec. 23 and Dec. 25 at 6: "The Ladykillers" (1955, Al- exander Mackendrick). + Dec. 23 and Dec. 25 at 7:45: "The Lavender Hill Mob" (t). + Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 at 6: "The Man in the White Suit" (1951, Mackendrick). + Dec. 30 and Jan. 1 at 7:45: "Kind Hearts and Coronets" (1949, Rob- ert Hamer). W AL TER READE THEATRE Lincoln Center (212-875-5600)-"Spanish Cin- ema Now." All films are in Spanish. Dec. 19 at 2 and 6:30: "Gary Cooper, Who Art in Heaven" (1980, Pilar Miró). + Dec. 19 at 4 and 8:45: "Beltenbros" (1992, Miró). + Dec. 20 at 2 and 6:15: "The Education of Fairies" (2006, José Luis Cuerda). + Dec. 21 at 4:15 and 8:45 and Dec. 23 at 7: "Seven Billiard Tables" (2007, Gra- cia Querejeta). + Dec. 22 at 12:30: "The War on Film," Program 1. + Dec. 22 at 2:40: "The War on Film," Program 2. + Dec. 22 at 5, Dec. 23 at 9:15, and Dec. 27 at 8:30: "Septembers" (2006, Carles Bosch). + Dec. 22 at 7:20 and Dec. 24 at 2 and 6: "Doghead" (2006, Santi Amodeo). + Dec. 23 at 12:30: "The War on Film," Program 3. + Dec. 23 at 2:45: "The War on Film," Program 4. + Dec. 23 at 4:45 and Dec. 27 at 2 and 6:15: "The Dog in the Man- ger" (1995, Miró). + Dec. 26 at 2 and 6:40: "The Bird of Happiness" (1993, Miró). + Dec. 26 at 4:15 and 9: "Your Name Poisons My Dreams" (1996, Miró). + "All That Fosse." Dec. 28 at 1:30 and 6:15 and Dec. 31 at 8:15: "Cab- aret" (1972). + Dec. 28 at 4 and Dec. 30 at 8:15: "Star 80" (1983). + Dec. 28 at 8:45, Dec. 31 at 6, and Jan. 1 at 8:30: "Lenny" (1974). + Dec. 29 at 1 and Dec. 31 at 3:45: "The Pajama Game" (t). + Dec. 29 at 3:10 and Dec. 30 at 5:15: "Sweet Charity" (1969). + Dec. 29 at 6:15 and Dee. 30 at 3:30: "Give a Girl a Break" (1953, Stanley Donen). + Dec. 29 at 8:15, Dec. 30 at 1, and Jan. 1 at 4: "All That Jazz" (1979). + Dec. 31 at 1:30 and Jan. 1 at 6:20: "My Sister Ei- leen" (1955, Richard Quine). READINGS AND TALKS STRAND BOOKSTORE Annie Bergen, Elliott Forrest, Jeff Spurgeon, and Midge Woolsey, announcers on the classical-music station WQXR, swing by this literary institution on Dec. 18 at 6 for a reading of an adaptation (by their colleague Clayelle Dalferes) of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol." Wine and cheese will be served, the latter provided by Rob Kaufelt, the owner of Murray's Cheese, in Greenwich Village, and the au- thor of "The Murray's Cheese Handbook." (Broad- way at 12th St. No tickets necessary.) KGB BAR Naomi Novik and Christopher Barzak deliver a night of science fiction. (85 E. 4th St. No tickets necessary. Dec. 19 at 7.) NEW YEAR.S DAY MARATHONS The Poetry Project kicks off its thirty-fourth an- nual gathering at 2. More than a hundred and fifty performers, including Philip Glass, Anselm Berri- gan, Steve Earle, Eric Bogosian, and Tracie Mor- ris, are expected. (St. Mark's In-the-Bowery, Sec- ond Ave. at 10th St. 212-674-0910.) Over at the Bowery Poetry Club, also starting at 2, a number of the same folks will participate in a spoken-word spectacle, now in its fourteenth year. (308 Bowery. 212-614-0505.) ABOVE AND BEYOND OH. THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, whose motto is "Every day is a beach day," takes its New Year's Day dip in the icy North Atlantic. As was the case last year, the event (which is open to all) is for more than just bragging rights; it benefits Camp Sunshine, a nonprofit retreat in Maine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. (Swim time is at 1. For more informa- tion, visit www.polarbearclub.org.) AUCTIONS AND ANTIQUES Sotheby's final sale of the year is an offering of Judaica (on Dec. 19), including a gorgeously ren- dered portrait of a student wearing a sumptu- ous fur hat ("Portrait of a Yeshiva Boy"), by Isidor Kaufmann. (York Ave. at 72nd St. 212- 606-7000.) + Phillips wraps things up with a sell- ing exhibit (through Dec. 29) of the futuristic lighting designs of Marcus Tremonto. (450 W. 15th St. 212-940-1200.) + Swann ends the year in high style. On Dec. 13, the house offers one of its reg- ular auctions of photographs and photography books, featuring several editions of Alfred Stieg- litz's Camera Work, including No. 36 (from 1911), which contains sixteen New York-themed pho- togravures by Stieglitz himself. The final sale of the year, however, is an appropriately decadent pre-Christmas offering of Art Nouveau posters (Dec. 19); among the highlights is "Ilsée Prin- cesse de Tripoli," a collection of a hundred and thirty-eight hand-colored proofs by the elegant Czech master Alphon e Mucha, the Norman Rockwell of the Belle Epoque. (104 E. 25th St. 212-254-4710.) / õiiiI -- .... ,} - '\ · L- .---- ' " ,\- \ === J' \ ........- ON THE HORIZON MOVIES TALKING PICTURES Jan. 2-17 Otto Preminger, helped by a law degree and his years in the theatre, was one of Hollywood's great adepts at filming people talking. Though he was known as a master of the courtroom scene, his work spanned all genres. A retrospective at Film Forum includes film noir ('Where the Sidewalk Ends"), melodrama ("Daisy z Kenyon"), historical epic ("Exodus"), war ("In Harm's Way"), and even comedy ("The Moon Is Blue"). (212-727-8110.) -- -.J -.-< . -=--J J ' __J ---.J.. , ....'- ..... '" - , /.,-r I I ---- ,-- --- I ^ ( ) - -- =-.J-- C ./ THE THEATRE COEN BROTHER Jan. 9 Atlantic Theatre Company, at its Stage 2 space, mounts three comic plays- 'Waiting," "Four Benches," and "Debate" -by the filmmaker Ethan Coen, in a program titled "Almost an Evening." The ensemble cast includes F. Murray Abraham and Elizabeth Marvel. (212-239-6200.) NIGHT LIFE SOUTHERN CHARMS Jan. 9-20 The Asylum Street Spankers, a long-standing freewheeling acoustic-music 40 THE NEW YORKER, DECEMBER 24 & 31, 2007 - J - .? , ) ';y --J -S' _ '- '0 ----::Y -'>. "- ,',. Ii ,. //þ-,- group from Austin, Texas, hit town next month for a musical revue about their glamorous calling, titled 'What? And Give Up Show Biz?," at the Barrow Street Theatre. (212-239-6200.) CLASSICAL MUSIC BEYOND WORDS Jan. 16-17 Amid all the blather b " ". a out crossover mUSIC, a few imaginative musicians are creating a viable post- classical genre. One of these is J onny Greenwood, of Radiohead, whose grim and intense string orchestra piece "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" (parts of which are used in the Paul Thomas Anderson film "There Will Be Blood") will have its American première in the Wordless Music Series. (www. wordlessmusic.org.) ART FULL BLAST Feb. 22-May 28 To call Cai Guo-Qiang's art explosive is no exaggeration: gunpowder and fireworks are high on his list of preferred materials. The Guggenheim Museum will present more than eighty works by the Chinese artist in the retrospective "I Want to Believe." (212-423-3500.) The Chinese artist Cai Guo- Qiang, at the Guggenheim.